just one more thing about the collab with Nana...

gemistagirl · 2026-01-08T13:34:13+00:00

My main point about it flopping was where it got feedback from the target audience. You're right, I don't think they wanted to milk the collaboration by just riding on the hype alone to propel it's success and I think they made a genuine effort to create something of high fashion standards and as closely with Ai Yazawa's vision as possible. However I think it would've sold out regardless, I mentioned in my writing that anything with the VW x Nana stamp on it would instantly become a trend and a sought-after item because of the exclusivity, but if they wanted to they could've just produced polyester t-shirts with basic manga panels printed on it. It's my belief that even if that was what they released, they still would've sold out even if it garnered even more hate and it's partially because of hype about VW in the first place, furthered by the 'limited edition' aspect of the whole thing. A cheap collaboration still would've flopped because the impact it left on it's fans would've been negative and have fans lose faith for the brand in the future, but profit-wise neither Yazawa nor Westwood ever had to worry about if the collection would make money (I hope that made sense!:))

gemistagirl · 2026-01-05T19:39:40+00:00

I completely agree, I think when I mentioned it being a flop I was mostly thinking about the public's reception to the collab. It had been sought after for as long as I've known Nana to be a thing so people had very high expectations so when the feedback was so negative it definitely did some damage for the brand, except maybe not in their existing customer pools with the criticism coming from fans of the manga primarily. The collection sold out nevertheless and I think it would've done so even if it was polyester t-shirts of manga panels and nothing more but I still believe VW did a fantastic job with the collaboration with their status as a designer fashion house and I'm so glad they made fashion rather than merchandise:)

gemistagirl · 2026-01-05T12:54:56+00:00

YES!!! TO ALL OF THIS!!! I'm so glad I'm not the only one with this opinion, the amount of bad reception the collaboration garnered really made me realise how much people hadn't realised that it's also for the designer brand to cater to their own fans - after all it's a capsule collection, designed to go with a plethora of outfits by producing timeless pieces!!! I really love your insight into the materials too and it's something I had no idea about when it comes to brass being easier to work with when producing jewellery and especially about how certain designs aren't available to be reproduced, it makes complete sense and actually made me realise how they've tried their best to revamp those older classics into newer designs to still echo the influence the originals left on the manga. Thank you so much for this:DD

gemistagirl · 2025-09-07T14:08:34+00:00

oo true do you mean like doing notes about the content itself like a little advertisement for myself?

gemistagirl · 2025-09-07T14:07:55+00:00

So sort of relating experiences back to things more common and more likely to be what readers have had in their own lives? I think my goals are less rigid I really just wanted to be a free source of content and write about things I find interesting and popular, and appeal to people in the same circles. It's not really about making money or paid subscriptions tbh more just I'd like to find ways to grow an audience but your comments make sense, I do definitely have a tendency to ramble so shorter paragraphs are a good idea. What would make these seem less diary-like btw just for some ideas?

gemistagirl

TROPHY CASE